Apocalypse
The Apocalypse (末世, Masse) is the day where the world is said to end. In the Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon universe, this coincides to a date that falls under the year 1648 TE, one hundred years after the recording of events of the Testament suddenly turned to a halt. It is unknown whether such an event exists, as it is based merely on the mechanics of history recreation, but the fear that comes with the possibility of an end of the world has triggered many to speculate and investigate about this future event. Background The term "apocalypse" originated from the Greek word apokalypsis which means "revelation". It is commonly used to describe the day when the world would end, especially in the Biblical context, and has eventually expanded to cover any event that is considered to be cataclysmic.Definition of "apocalypse" in Wiktionary. Accessed September 20, 2012. History Origins During the natural flow of history recreation, people have been circulating rumors about a day when the world would end. However, no such event occurred, and the rumors remained empty for some time. It was one day in the year 1648 TE when the Testament suddenly stopped updating itself when the rumors returned, and the year 1648, the date when the Peace of Westphalia was scheduled to be held, suddenly became important to many. Phenomena and Investigations As the year 1648 approaches, supernatural events and phenomena, including the Lost Nobles incident, began to occur more frequently than before. In response to the sudden increase of unusual occurrences, each country in the Divine States began to take individual measures and researched about these events, although keeping these investigations a secret to the public. Sometimes, countries would share information with each other regarding these events. One of the countries who actively investigate the phenomena is England. Their investigation brought them to the conclusion that "those who disappeared were sucked in and converted to ether". Meanwhile, in a separate investigation by the M.H.R.R. led by Guericke, findings revealed that "it is impossible for a person to protect himself from being a victim of those phenomena, as the process itself cannot be perceived nor sensed, and the same will happen to everything at the End of Days". England's findings explain that there are unusual "flowers" that absorbs ether, and anything that has their ether sucked dry by these "flowers" will perish. The current problem arises with the abundance of these flowers, which if left unchecked, would drastically deplete the entire world's ether supply, forcing the world to sacrifice its own resources to maintain this balance. Countermeasures In order to slow down the effects of these "flowers" on key settlements, some people have devised plans to protect themselves from these phenomena. One example is the Magdeburg Hemisphere in the M.H.R.R., where they had set up a defensive ability that would counter the effects of decreasing ether in the air, which works alongside the Harmonic Divine State's own ether vein, which continuously balances the amount of ether to optimal levels. However, this protection still consumes ether, and with natural ether supplies being depleted, the world is still approaching its destruction. Meanwhile, it is said that the world's hope may rest in the Genesis Project created by Lord Motonobu Matsudaira and the Mortal Sin Armaments. However, very little is known about the Genesis Project, especially at the death of its brainchild, while it still remains a mystery as to why Lord Matsudaira chose to produce the Mortal Sin Armaments out of the fragments of his daughter Horizon Ariadust's soul and emotions and how it would defend the world against its impending end. See also *Genesis Project References ;General *Article on "Apocalypse" in the @wiki on Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon, Accessed September 20, 2012. ;Specific Category:Terminology Category:Events